Job Opportunity: Elementary Teacher at Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired

Louisiana Special School District

Louisiana is a State as a Model Employer for People with Disabilities.

The Louisiana Special Schools are experiencing a critical shortage of certified teachers, school counselors, interpreters and educators of the Deaf or hard of hearing and Visually Impaired.

The LA SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT is seeking applicants for a Elementary Teacher, Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired (LSVI).

This position is currently in Elementary but may move around within other LSVI departments.

Position #50316744

This is a full time 9 month and 7.5 hours per day position. To be filled for the 2025-2026 school year.

Teacher Positions

All of our teachers are leaders with unique opportunities to create pathways for success for every student and other teachers in the years to come. This is a rare opportunity for teachers who are looking to increase their responsibility and impact within a school and across our state.

Special School District

The Special School District (SSD) was established by the Louisiana Legislature and serves over 1,800 students annually across Louisiana. Our mission is to provide compassionate, collaborative, and innovative educational opportunities for students with low incidence disabilities, meeting each student's unique needs. Our goal is to ensure 100 percent of the students served in our schools and programs will leave with a clear path to success. Our core values include:

• Unity
• Collaboration & Innovation
• Trust
• Compassion
• Commitment
• Results
• Hope

Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired

The Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired (LSVI) traces its roots back to 1852 and serves blind and visually impaired children, birth to age 21. Our school prides itself on offering comprehensive services, including rigorous instruction, outreach services, extracurricular activities, assistive technology, transition, and orientation and mobility and Expanded Core training. We dedicate ourselves every day to ensuring our students reach their maximum potential.

LSVI commits to teaching all students Braille in an optimal, highly accessible environment; to present instructional materials in formats and using technology best suited to each student; to ensuring that we are driven by research in best developmental practices for learners that are blind or visually impaired; to use advances in technology to meet the diverse needs of our students.

LSVI strives to be a college and career preparatory environment where students are expected to read, to respond, to analyze information, to reason and solve real-world problems, and to make sense of the world around them. We encourage parents and families to engage fully with the school and to help us support their children. Our teachers are experts in the field and in the needs of our students, they engage in regular Professional Learning Communities, and they continuously grow in the profession and techniques.

Throughout its more than 150 years as a school, LSVI has maintained an unchanging commitment to offer blind and visually impaired students the academic, career and social opportunities to help them achieve their full potential. We never stop learning here at the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired!

The Louisiana Special Schools do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in our programs and activities, and we provide equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Inquiries regarding non-discrimination may be referred to Mary Gloston, Human Resources Director at mgloston@lsvi.org.

RELEASE OF ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION INFORMATION: La. R.S. 17:3884(D) requires that any school board wishing to hire a person who has been assessed or evaluated pursuant to the Children First Act, La. R.S. 17:3871, et seq., whether that person is already employed by that school system or not, shall request such person's assessment and evaluation results as part of the application process.

Please be advised that, as part of the mandated process, your previous assessment and evaluation results will be requested. You have the opportunity to apply, review the information received, and provide any response or information you deem appropriate. Physical Activity Level: The employee must be able to perform assigned duties without significant risk of substantial harm to his/her own safety/security and the safety/security of others. Some work is performed in physically comfortable positions with little or light physical effort, and some work requires moderate effort. Physical requirements are subject to reasonable accommodation in accordance with ADA standards.

There is no guarantee that everyone who applies to this posting will be interviewed. Specific information about this job will be provided to you in the interview process, should you be selected.

To apply for this vacancy, click this link and complete an electronic application, which can be used for this vacancy as well as future job opportunities. Applicants can check the status of their application at any time by selecting the 'Application Status' link after logging into their account. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed application. You must include all relevant education and experience on your official State application. Applicants qualifying based on college training or receipt of a baccalaureate degree will be required to submit an official college transcript to verify credentials claimed prior to appointment. Please make every effort to attach a copy of your transcript to your application. The transcripts can be added as an attachment to your online application or faxed to (225) 763-5523. The selected candidate will be required to submit original documentation upon hire.

Minimum Qualifications

• Deep belief that all students, regardless of their backgrounds and educational pasts, have the potential to succeed in college, career, and beyond, and that it is the responsibility of schools to help students realize that potential.
• Louisiana teaching certificate, 2+ years of teaching experience, preferably working with students from similar backgrounds to LSVI students.
• Teacher of Visually Impaired certification preferred (3 years to achieve).
• Demonstrates Braille proficiency with passing score on the National Certification Unified English Braille (NCUEB).
• Desire to work at a college and career prep school rebuilding education for blind and visually impaired students.
• Desire to grow as a teacher and face the challenges that come with deep reflection and direct feedback on your classroom practices.
• Positive attitude and strong work ethic. Ability to constantly find joy in the successes and challenges of our work. Ability to demonstrate that joy towards students, families, and teammates.
• Personal initiative to better yourself and those around you. Drive to actively pursue excellence in everything you do, even when not given direct coaching.
• Strong knowledge in content area of choice, demonstrated through lesson planning, execution, and intervention with all students.
• Strong desire to participate in all school activities, including extracurricular activities, clubs, sports, school health and wellness activities, and other activities and events that promote school identity and culture.
• Effective rating measured using the Compass observation and goal setting cycle and tools, which includes measures of setting instructional outcomes, managing classroom procedures, questioning and discussion techniques, engaging students in learning, using assessment in instruction, and measurable student learning targets.

Job Specification

Planning for College and Career Ready Bar

• Plan rigorous lessons aligned to the Early Childhood Standards, Louisiana State Standards and the school's internal curriculum to align all of your planning.
• Utilize curriculum assessments at the daily, weekly, and unit level to measure what your students learned: Daily Exit Tickets (formative) to know if you were successful in teaching that day; Weekly or Unit Assessments (summative) to assess students learning. For each assessment, create your ideal student response or mastery response, clearly defining the bar of rigor your students must reach.
• Utilize curriculum summative assessments to test overall mastery at the unit level that align to the end of year assessment for your course.
• Know your content deeply. Ensure lessons demonstrate your knowledge and passion for your content. Lessons must drive mastery and investment in your content from every student you teach.

Culture That Builds Strong and Positive Student Identities and Investment

• Ensure your students know that you believe in them, and they know what you expect from them and why.
• Create a classroom culture where 100% of your students are engaged in your lesson and doing rigorous thinking at every